Kitchen fork



Jan. 30, 1923. n 1,443,508

- F. E. SMALL. K|TcH5N Form` FILED 05a. I6. 1920.

ji? l. 02 2 fr @y A/v f/Jima.

titi,

narran Aamm FRANK E. SMALL, OF JAMAICA, NEW YORK.

iircnniv Forez.

iippiieatien inea December ie, i920. semi No. 431.156.

` Be` it known that l, FRANK E. SMALL, citizen oi the United States ot iiinerica, and resident oi Jamaica,` Long island, in the county oit Queens and StateotNeiv York, have invented neu7 and useful improvements in .Kitchen Forks3 ot which the 'following `is a specification'.

This invention relates to forks and more particularlyto a iork `for kitchen or culiv nary purposes and providing means Whereby vegetables or other articles of food iinpaled `upon the tines ot the forli may readily be ejected therefrom. j

yWhile various attempts have heretofore been made toy provide tor-ks with ejecting devices, so' far as is known7 no entirely satis- In many cases theproposed ejector devices have been so complicated and expensive to make, as ivell as so cumbersome and heavy, as to preclude their ,f ,Such bendingr oi fork tines7 particularly the 40 outside tines, Where three orinoi'e are einy f may engagevthe central tine, but iii a fork` employment to anyconsiderable Iextentl -for -the purposej for Which they aiedesigned.

One object ot the present invention ,iste provide a fork with an ejector device ot light Weight and ot simple and inexpensive construction, and which at the same time shall be Well adapted for its intended use.

As it is quite` desirable to guide the ejector ineinber proper by engagement With the fork tines, it is clearly evident that the itreedoni ot movement oi such ejector member dependstoa large extent upon the degree to which tliosetines with which it engages ap-I proach substantial parallelism, and that the bending ot' one or more ot such tines may render the device entirely inoperative.

ployedylis oit frequent occurrence in culinary lu.se,"anda 'further object of this invention j 'iste sodesign'an ejector device that treedom of mom isnt will he but littleimpaired by any'` ordinary bending of the tiiies of the rfji'irlr. Tothis end .it is proposed/to 'torni the ejector as a substantially tiet plate having a single Vguide opening thereinv tor engageinent with one tine only ot the tierk. Then a three tine fork is employed.. this openii'ig havinga different number of tiues be einj )loyed7 theopening1 in the ejector plate may j `hearraiiged to engage such tine as is found toy be most convenient in practice. In any event, 4it is contemplated that the ejector portion ot pars for appl plate `Will be substantially free from contact With any of the other tineslbut may if desired extend suiiiciently close theretov to insure the ejection oic material of substantial size inipaled thereon. i

ln many cases, when the provision ot an ejector device has been attempted, it has been found necessarjv to provide a special form of fork, orto Amake openings in or secure permanent attachments to forks of existing` types in order to permit of the projiier,location of the ejectordevice. Fun

ffeinents, it is' thermore with the usual ariaiim not easy, it possible, to remove the ejector device from thepi'orlr, and in many this occasions' diiheulty vin cleaning of the `forlr with its appurtenanca resulting in anV unsanitary condition rendering` it undesin able as an implement :for use in the prepa` ration ot articles of' food. further object of the present invention is to provide an. ejector device capable of ipplicationto an ordinary type of commercial. lork such is employed ;tor kitchen and culinary use and at the saine time to so devise, such ejector that it may 4readily and quickly be removed tor cleaning and easily restored to operativeposition. j i To this end, andas herein disclosed. the ejector device when applied to a thr V.e tine, loop-handled lWire forl, mayk comprise an ejector plate as atoresaidhaving an'opening slidably engaging the centralitinc of ther i torlr, an actuating member having guide notches into engagement with which the spaced bars 'of the 'toi-lr handle may vi-iprung, and suitable ineens Ytor connecting slight inmliticntions in shape or relative pro icati known 'forms ot fork. and tor proper has heen 'illurstratcd ing-` a. substantialiy iat plate it plated that ejector elements .et equivaient 'forms might Well he substituted. 'for that herein'specifically shown.

A preferredtorni of devicojis ilhistrated in the accoinpanying drm-.finire in Which--r Fig. l is a plan vievv lofthe fork illus` tratingthe saine in position for use with the ejector member in inoperative` position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation oie. the fork with the parts arranged asin Fig,

i 'o fi hand portion oli the device shown in big. l, but indicatingthe ejector device as having been moved to eject material impalcd on the tines of the fork. 1 j

F ig. Ll is a cross sectionA oit the device on L j the line a-Z) offliig. 2.

Fig. 5, is a crossy section onthe'line c LZ, i

of Fig. 2; and y Fig. is a side elevation olf theVv ejector deviceremoved fromthc lfork. f

As herein illustrated, the toi-l; com prises three tines l, 2, 3, respectively, Whichmay be formed Wire it desired and which are .ierein indicated` .twisted together `at Il. The-handle otk the lorl comprises a looplike open traine consisting` ci the sidebars 5, (i, arranged substantially parallel and spaced apart one from the other, such bars being integrally united if desiredto form the closedend 7, and maybejtwisted at `with the tine members of the toria lt de.. sired, tivo of the tine members and the handle member may be formed oit a continuous piece of Wire intertvvisted at l with y a second piece forming the third .tine `member.

The exact mode of construction `ot the 'fork however, is immaterial in so far as the fundamental features or" the present invention are concerned. j

8 is an ejector meinber and 9` isnan actuator thereof, said members being suitably lconnected by means of a substantially rigid rodor Wire l0. AThe members 8 and 9 may `be secured to the ends of the rod l inanyl y suitable manner, as by soldering or bracing.V

lt is contemplated however, as'ivithin the scope of the invention, that the members S and 9 mightv be formed integral with the bar `or Wire l0, as kfor example by casting the saine as a unitary structure, or by forni-l.

ing the members 8 'and 9 by suitably twist# ing and bending the piece oi Wire Vforming the rod l0.

Regardlless ol the mode of manufacture of the ejector device it is preferred to form the plate substantially as'indicated in Fig. a, wherein the ejector proper is shown as comprising a relativelythin plate of substantially elliptical form. This plate isprovided adjacent its center with an opening ll, whereby the plate may be guided for free sliding movement along the ineinberQ. The plate is preferably so arranged. that its major airis lies substantially in the plane ot the tines of the fork, but is of such die niension that While substantially lilling thc spaces between the central j tine and the; outer tines, it does not actually engage the outer tines, The actuator member 9 is also of vsubstantially elliptical form and is provided with open ended notches l2, 18, at 4the ends 'of its major axis. These notches are arrangedy for slidable engageri'ient with the bars 5` and 6 respectively oit the handle.

laisses .ln assemliiling the lork and ejector device, it is merely necessary to slip the plate d over the central tine 2 and move the same backward until the vactuator plate 9 cocu-- pies a-,position adjacent the center of length of the handle. When in this position' the bars 5, 6, may readily be sprung apart sufiiciently to permit the plate 9 to be snapped bet-Ween the `saine Whereb)I to permit the ,5, G, to loosely engage Within .the

notches l2, 13. 1When thus arranged, the

device is ready tor use, and as indicated in lliff. l the ejector )late 8 ma bey retracted j c .l f, j T i y by the thumb or linger of tue user, thus permitting an article of lood, as forexample a Jotato indicated at A in the drawino'. to

l a f a Having thus described the invention in aA preferred embodiment thereof together With `the vmode of use of the same, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

l. A. detachable ejector device for use with kitchen forks having three tines, comprising an ejector plate having an opening for receiving the central tine of the` fork, said yplate, extending on opposite sides of said openingsubstantially acrossl the space between the central 'tine and the outer tines but Without engaging thelatter, and a linger cngageable member for sliding said plate along said central tine.l

2. A detachable ejector device for use With a foi-lr having a plurality et tines, said device comprising an ejector member having sliding engagement with one of said tines only and extending to points adjacent the other tine orv tines but without contacting with the latter, v

3. il. detachable ejector device for use with a foi VL having a handle comprising siibstan tially parallel spaced members, said device in ejector memberslidably asmembei having oppositely outwardly di re ted vopennotches slidably Ve'ngageable with. respectivespaced members of the handle and means for connecting said ejector inem-` ber and said actuatingmember.

4;. ln a detachable ejector device for use with Wire handled forks having handles comprising spaced substantially :parallel bars, an ejector member'slidably engageable with a forli: tine, an actuator therefor coin` 4prising a substantially elliptical plate havtli the fork tiiies, an actuating ing notches at the opposite ends of its major j' axis im' engagement with the respective bars .of 4the handle and a rod having its opposite ends secured toy said ejector' and actuator respectively. y j

5. A detachable ejector device for use with Wire handled forks having handles compris- "ing substantially parallel spaced members,

said device comprising an ejector plate having an opening for receiving one ofthe fork tmes, an actuator member constructed and arranged for insertion between said parallel members of the handle by springing the latter apart, and a rigid rod connecting said plate and actuator member.

6. In combination with an ejector member arranged for association with the tines of a fork having a handle comprising a pair of substantially parallel spaced bars, an ac-zy tuator plate of substantially elliptical form having open ended notches at the op osite ends ot one of its axes, said notches ei'ng handle having parallelly `spaced lelements and havingthree curved tines, comprising an actuator member slidably guided for vmovement between the elements of saidy handle, an ejector member guided for'sliding movementalong the central vone of said` curved tines and' a rigid connecting rod for transmitting movement from said' actuator to said ejector member, said actuator andr ejector members being constructed and arranged ior ready application to or removal from the fork.

14th day of December, 1920. j a

FRANK E; SMALL.

i. 40` Signed by me at Jamaica, New York this 

